Aims:
- To be able to discuss the different ways in which disparities can be reduced with an emphasis on trade and market access, debt relief, aid and remittances.
- To develop the skill of searching for the important points in a large document.
Read here what OXFAM demanded in January 2013 with regards to movement on global disparities:
Oxfam seeks ‘new deal’ on inequality from world leaders
A beginners’ guide to Davos
(World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, 2013)
Disparities can be reduced via:
- trade – selling things
- market access – being able to sell things
- fairtrade – selling things for a fair price
- debt relief – reduction in a country’s debts or the repayments upon those debts
- aid – monies donated by one country or organization to another
- remittances – money sent home by workers who have migrated
Summary notes are available Strategies for reducing disparities
Here is a range of resources for you to use:
TRADE
| What is it? | How does it work? | Examples |
| Wikipedia definition | World Trade Organisation |
The Guardian has links to many stories about trade & development. The Guardian – Are export processing zones the new sweatshops, or drivers of development? info.worldbank.org – A PDF that examines an export processing zone in Malaysia. |
MARKET ACCESS
| What is it? | How does it work? | Examples |
|
The Guardian – China/Australia free trade agreement. Informafrica.com – Sierra Leone gets access to EU fish market |
FAIRTRADE
| What is it? | How does it work? | Examples |
| [mediacore height=”225″ public_url=”http://nis-school.mediacore.tv/media/tipping-the-balance-what-is-fairtrade” thumb_url=”http://cdnassets.mediacore.tv/static/814dc032/images/defaults/generic/generic-l.png” title=”Tipping the balance (what is Fairtrade)” width=”400″] |
The Guardian – Fair trade success with chocolate The Guardian – Fair trade not working |
DEBT RELIEF
| What is it? | How does it work? | Examples |
| Wikipedia definition |
BBC – Brazil to write of African debt The Guardian – Sustainable development goals promise little respite for indebted poor countries. |
AID
| What is it? | How does it work? | Examples |
|
The Guardian – is trade, not aid, the answer for Africa? The Guardian – Second-hand clothes in Africa The Guardian – Cast-off UK clothes make Zambia poor. |
Interesting article from the Guardian – Aid in reverse
REMITTANCES
| What is it? | How does it work? | Examples |
|
The World Bank – Migration, remittances, diaspora & development Youtube – TED talk about remittances – Note you may need a VPN to view. |
BBC News – Remittance cash ‘tops’ world aid |
The Guardian – Interactive resource Reuters – Indonesian migrants’ remittances fail to develop economy at home |
How can we best tackle the disparities which exist globally in terms of wealth and development? – Former students discuss.
And finally, here is a TED talk discussing the future of the MDGs after 2015:
Task: Evaluate the effectiveness of any two of the following strategies that seek to reduce disparities;
1. Trade & market access
2. Debt relief
3. Aid
4. Remittances.